New Jersey business owners could share in a pool of $2 billion in grants, Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday / ASBURY PARK PRESS/FILE

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WOODBRIDGE — Gov. Chris Christie, his re-election campaign virtually under way, on Tuesday pounded home the theme that the only way New Jersey can recover from the damage left by superstorm Sandy is for its elected leaders to set aside their political ambition and compromise.

At stake, he said, is the chance for the Shore’s small-business owners to rebuild.

“If we don’t get those back up and running, not only will we be diminished economically, but we’ll be diminished culturally,” Christie said.

Christie spoke to about 350 people here at an annual meeting hosted by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, a business lobby group.

The meeting this year came with the state in a bind.

In a survey before Sandy hit in October, members of the association gave high marks to Christie for turning around the state’s beleaguered business climate, and they were anticipated stronger sales and profits next year.

But the state’s unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in October. It is only expected to rise in the short term. And some business owners need to find out if their insurance claims will be approved before they decide whether to rebuild.

Executives themselves said their outlook is bogged down by federal debt negotiations and the rollout of the health care reform law known as Obamacare.

“It’s a very difficult environment to be in,” said Tom Roche, the president of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, a trade group. “It’s like going around the Monopoly board and you’re halfway around and they change the rules. Maybe you go backwards. You don’t know what the properties are worth.”

Business owners at the Shore, however, have more pressing concerns. Namely, finding enough money among insurance payouts, federal aid and bank loans to rebuild.

Christie, comparing himself to a salesman on an infomercial, ticked off a list of programs in the pipeline that can be a lifeline.

Among them:

• The Obama administration has requested Congress provide $2 billion in grants to small business owners in New Jersey and New York hurt by Sandy. Christie noted that business owners for now only have access to loans through the Small Business Administration and can scarcely take on more debt.

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• The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Tuesday it would spend $26 million to hire unemployed workers to clean up debris, to upgrade skills of current employees and to help employers find workers for hard-to-fill positions.

• The state is working with private lenders to guarantee credit lines of up to $500,000 for companies to continue operating while they await their insurance proceeds.

Not that everyone at the business event was on the same page. Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver, D-Essex, said she was standing by her bill to increase the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8.50 an hour — and peg future increases to the consumer price index.

Awaiting signature

Democrats and Republicans grappled over whether it would bring more or less certainty to business operations. The bill is awaiting approval from Christie.

Christie for his part did not mention the minimum wage or any other issues facing the business community, saying they all paled in comparison to Sandy.

To that end — and perhaps with an eye on next year’s election — he returned to his call for members of both parties to swallow their pride, work together and set aside their political ambitions.

It could have gone either way. Christie during his first term has shown himself at times to embrace bipartisanship and at other times to throw his opponents under the bus.

But he said the public is tired of the gamesmanship that is routinely on display in Washington, often at the detriment of progress.

A natural disaster like Sandy gives him a chance to test his point.

“This is simply the biggest priority we have and the one that will define success or failure for this state and this administration,” Christie said.